Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Confession

One stupid view raised every time some part of the nation begins to protest against an entrenched despot is: But we don't have anyone to take his/her place.
Dammit, if the Occupiers of the State never allow institutions to develop, or for new leaders to grow out of the population, we'll always be in such a rut. So break the chain, yaar! And, let's face it, the despots did eventually leave. And we have managed (in many cases better than during their periods) to splutter-start-stop-lurch-and-drag our way through for another few years ... at least until someone else spreads UHU over the chair before sitting on it.
This time around, however, there is an embarrassing bit that I have to add, if I am to be honest with you and myself: I do worry about the transition to someone else, sometimes - although I desperately want it to happen.
OK .. Ok ... let me explain before you condemn me.
I am no fan of Musharraf - primarily so because I'd like to see civilian rule (unambiguously real civilian rule, I mean - not the kind we've had since 1953) in my country. Benazir's record is poor on several counts. Her financial corruption - terrifying though it is - is, imho, the least of the problems she brings to the country each time. A lot more happens under her that is far worse. There is no real danger of Imran Khan taking the reins in his hand - his party hardly gets a couple of seats. Also, I really think he makes an important member of the Opposition, from where he can continue to try and keep checks and balances, without endangering us with his born-again rhetoric. But each time I ponder this, I am really scared shitless:

3 Comments:

I was reading the papers the previous morning and a news item that caught my attention said that the US government is not pleased with the fact that Mr. Sharif could possibly go no to become a 'power centre' once again, in Pakistani politics.

The yanks, it explained, would have been happier with President Mush and Benazir as the most likely candidate for the post of prime minister.

Now, I had never taken seriously, the claims of leftist parties in India, regarding the civilian nuclear deal with the U.S. of A. being detrimental to Indian sovreignity, but this made me do a bit of a rethink.

words of wisdom

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.
I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy - ecstasy so great that I would often have scrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness - that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that the saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought and, though it might seem too good for human life, this is what - at last - I have found.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.
Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.
This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.Bertrand Russell

The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there's free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate.Noam Chomsky

Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.Albert Einstein

Each century seems to take on a particular character as we view it in retrospect. How will the 20th Century be remembered? My guess is that this dramatic span of 100 years will ultimately be marked not by computers or the Internet, but by the drive toward individual freedom, the breaking of human barriers of prejudice, and the opening of society to include all people.John S. Spong

DESIDERATA
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.Max Ehrmann